Last week, President Elect Donald Trump had a big announcement to deliver about his education agenda. Four days after meeting with the President Elect, Betsy DeVos, 58, has been named the intended appointee to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Education. Who is Betsy DeVos you might ask? A high-profile advocate for school choice, Ms. DeVos is chair of the American Federation for Children, a Washington, D.C.-based organization devoted to expanding school of choice options across the country. She also sits on the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

The Idaho School Choice Week planning committee has been working diligently to bring the most outstanding School Choice rally to Idaho’s capitol yet! Creative minds with big hearts are at the soul of this event set to take place on Wednesday, January 27 at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, ID.

Nevada recently made headlines for becoming the fifth state in the nation to enact an Education Savings Account (ESA) law. This landmark legislation marks a new high-point for school choice advocates both in the state and across the nation.

The reauthorization of No Child Left Behind is making big waves among policymakers, journalists, and educators who are eager to see improvements to a policy that for years has left many educators in a teaching gridlock.

Education Week recognizes Dr. Linda Clark, superintendent of West Ada School District in Meridian, ID, for her leadership in innovation. NWPE appreciates Dr. Clark's focus on innovation because as a non-union professional educators association that offers a modern approach to representation and advocacy without a partisan agenda, we know that innovation leads to progress through more choices that better serve the diverse interests and needs of today's students and teachers. Please enjoy the article "Idaho School District's Scarce Resources No Barrier to Innovation" below.

Along with the numerous coaltion partners such as the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, Idaho Coalition of Charter School Families, the Idaho Charter School Network, Idaho Business for Education and the Idaho Federation of Independent Schools, and others, Northwest Professional Educators' (NWPE) Brenda Miller helped plan one of the premiere National School Choice Week (NSCW) events in the country.

NWPE Regional Director Brenda Miller, a former teacher union and PTA leader, recently shared how reflection on what is best for her own children and that of other families led her from a strict adherence to supporting the status quo to being a strong advocate for student and teacher choice. Read about her journey in this guest column published in the Idaho Statesman during National School Choice Week.

As School Choice Week 2015 gets underway, AAE just wanted to remind you about the top 8 most important facts you need to have in your school choice week arsenal. We have a huge opportunity to make sure our voices are heard, so let's make it count by arming ourselves with these critical facts:

Idahoans for Local Education (I4LE) is a group working to advance local control in Idaho's education system and stopping Common Core State Standards. I4LE wants to preserve Idaho’s local educational sovereignty by keeping educational decision making close to home, where parents can make a difference. It also works to ensure that Idaho‘s education system has the highest standards so students are given the ability to be anyone they want to be. To this end, I4LE is sponsoring an event hosting Dr. Peg Luksik addressing "Common Core, SBAC Tests & The Truth."

With renewed focus on overhauling the No Child Left Behind law gaining traction among Hill insiders, many educators are left wondering whether or not their best interests will be represented in reauthorization efforts. As the nation’s leading voice for professional educators, AAE is taking action and is sending Congress a clear message on behalf of teachers. Here’s what Executive Director Gary Beckner had to say:

EdTech isn’t just producing awesome results - it’s also taking hold of our education system in a big way. And in 2015, teachers can expect to see tons of new EdTech trends in the works that are revolutionizing the way of education. These technological innovations are helping teachers:

State leaders should trust parents to make smart decisions about their children’s educational futures. That is the key message of an historic march and celebration that will take place in Boise on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 at 12:00 pm, school choice supporters announced today.

Mike Antonucci from the Education Intelligence Agency couldn’t have put it better when he said that for unions to really make great strides on behalf of Millenials in the teaching profession it “would require sacrificing the interests of those in the room for those still outside of the building.”

Congratulations to the students and staff at Pocatello Community Charter School (PCCS) in Pocatello, Idaho. The school and its program of Expeditionary Learning (EL) were recently featured in the Idaho State Journal article, “Pocatello Community Charter School students experience expeditionary learning.” According to the Journal, “If people really learn best by doing, the students at Pocatello Community Charter School are on their way to becoming little Einsteins.”

In the wake of ground-breaking legislation in 2011, teacher evaluations in Indiana are making headlines this week. According to recent reports, the State Board of Education, lawmakers, and education policy experts deemed the results – only 2% of educators in Indiana are in need of improvement – as “too good to be true.”